Gotta Get Back To Work

Why is it so hard to get back to work after a long weekend when you LOVE what you do?  I found help for this dilemma on one of my favorite art/illustration blogs: Escape From Illustration Island.  While I was procrastinating and blogging, I came across this post about getting back into the groove after vacation.  (Made me think I should be working instead of reading blogs).  Luckily I found these tips helpful and will be back to the grindstone tomorrow!  Escape From Illustration Island is a must follow if you are a commercial artist or illustrator.  Check it out, then get back to work!        

Dessert Girl

By focusing my artwork on food I've had the chance to meet (through the internet) some foodies, food artists and food bloggers.  I LOVE checking out their blogs, talking blog talk with them and helping to promote each others' blogs. 

A really cool blogger, Dessert Girl, recently contacted me and asked if I could provide an illustration of a recipe that I tried.  Luckily I had just painted the Flakey Apricot Scones that I wrote about in May.  She was nice enough to blog about me and now it's my turn to blog about her.

Dessert Girl. "Where Design Meets Dessert," is a blog about sugar inspired foods and creative people who do things with dessert, like cooks, artists and illustrators.  Her blog is playful, colorful and a chock full of interesting dessert things that she's found.  I think she's realized the true essence of dessert - the part of a  meal meant to be fun, lighthearted and cheerful.  You should definitely visit her blog...and then get in the kitchen because you'll be inspired to make something sweet!

**The above cake is Dessert Girl's Heaven and Hell Cake with peanut butter mousse inside!!

Tooting My Own Horn...again

I just found out that my doughnut print, was featured on another COOL blog:  The Kitchn!
The Kitchn is a blog that I keep up with on my Blog Faves list.  It has amazing photos of food, great tips for the kitchen and even kitchen decor ideas.  I have always admired this blog and its sister blog, Apartment Therapy.  

It's exciting to get noticed by these great bloggers and I hope that it ultimately leads to sales!  

Dear Weekend Featured on Cuteable

Check it out:  Dear Weekend was featured on Cuteable - A daily blog with posts on cute apparel, jewelry, toys, home decor and more!  It's a great blog to follow if you are looking for fun and unique items to buy as gifts.  Thanks for the mention Cuteable!

How To: Create a Photo Mosaic

I have been admiring the photo collages and mosaics posted around the blogosphere so I decided to ask google how to make one.  I found a simple way to make a photo mosaic on http://bighugelabs.com/.   I am sure there are more advanced techniques, especially if you have Photoshop, but seeing that I am a rookie, this worked fine!

Here are the steps to take to get a mosaic like the one below:

1.  Upload a group of photos to Flickr as a set.  It can be as few as 2 or as many as 36.
2.  Go to www.bighugelabs.com and click on the Mosaic Maker on the home page.
3.  Follow the steps in the Mosaic Maker.  You can upload from flickr by the set, or by individual photos.  I think uploading a set is the quickest way to go.  You may have to crop some of the photos and play around until you get it right for the size of the mosaic tiles.  
4.  Save the new Mosaic Image as a file on your computer.
5.  Upload the image in your blog post and VOILA:

Torrey Pines State Reserve, March 14th 2010